MidCoast Council gets Golden Turd for poor human resources

A NSW Council has claimed the Golden Turd award for the most s**t human resources in local government for the second year in a row and one councillor is “astonished” by the GM’s response.

The Development and Environmental Professionals' Association has awarded MidCoast Council the Golden Turd award for the second year in a row for the worst human resources record in local government.

MidCoast Council has claimed the Golden Turd award for the most s**t human resources in local government for the second year running and one councillor is “astonished” by the GM’s response.

When councillor Peter Epov became aware of the dubious honour, he raised a question on notice in the lead up to their council meeting on Wednesday.

But the General Manager Adrian Panuccio responded saying the matter was confidential due to “personnel matters concerning particular individuals (other than councillors)” meaning both the question and answer have now been deemed confidential.

“The question did not refer to any specific individual, or any personal matters,” Mr Epov said.

“Frankly I was amazed - I couldn’t understand the rationale - it was the perfect opportunity to go on the record and clarify the situation.”

MidCoast Council has taken out the Golden Turd award for the second year running.

The Golden Turd is awarded by the industrial organisation Development and Environmental Professionals’ Association (DEPA).

Secretary Ian Robertson said it is one of the four unions with members at MidCoast Council.

“We’ve been awarding the Golden Turd now for more than a decade,” Mr Robertson said.

According to their research leading up to bestowing the title in December last year, MidCoast Council had 300 resignations in the 12 months prior.

According to Mr Epov, council employed around 1000 people, of which about 880 are permanent.

Cr Peter Epov.

MidCoast Council was formed in May 2016 following the merger of the former Great Lakes, Greater Taree and Gloucester Shire Councils.

Cr Epov says the situation was endemic and the high staff turnaround incredibly costly to the organisation.

He says it costs approximately $20,000 to replace just one staff member so when you get hundreds resigning in one year this equates to many millions of dollars in lost productivity.

“And this converts to a failure to deliver services,” Mr Epov said.

MidCoast Council general manager Adrian Panuccio.

Concerned by Mr Panuccio’s move to respond to the recent allegations in a confidential manner, Mr Epov is taking the matter further.

“I do not agree with this determination, and as such I have written an extensive letter to the general manager to that effect, I have also advised him that I shall be referring this matter to the Minister for Local Government and the Ombudsman,” he said.

He says the legislation which has been relied upon to keep the response confidential was not relevant as no individuals have been named in the response.

“I can not discuss the response as it has been deemed confidential but what I can tell you is that since 2018 MidCoast Council has become a more secretive organisation,” he said.

MidCoast Council has been contacted for a response to these claims.